Project "Zeitreich"

The "ZEITREICH" project of the "New Quality of Work" initiative supported 13 companies in the development and implementation of new time models. The central question was: Which solutions are equally satisfactory for employees and employers?

Flexitime, trust-based working hours or mobile working: Flexible working models give employees greater time autonomy, provide relief and support the work-life balance. Companies need to keep an eye on competitiveness and profitability.

The "ZEITREICH" project of the federal initiative "New Quality of Work" (INQA) focused specifically on the interests of employers and employees when it comes to flexibilizing working hours and helped to develop solutions that satisfy both sides equally.

Until 2019, INQA used the project to support management and HR managers as well as works and staff councils from a total of 13 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and administrations in developing, testing and introducing new working time models. In two consecutive project phases, the model companies, together with the project supervisors, conducted surveys and interviews with representatives of the employer and employee sides and thus identified potential for conflict with different working time models. Project teams with equal representation then developed models to resolve these conflicts. During the subsequent implementation, they were also supported by expert consultants.

This showed that many models can only work without conflict if the framework conditions are right. Flexible working time models such as flexitime or trust-based working time, for example, lead to conflict if they result in offices and factory premises being deserted on Friday afternoons because employees prefer to use overtime for a long weekend. Without agreements in the work teams and corresponding company regulations, these models do not work.

Throughout the course of the project, the focus was always on a social partnership approach and employee participation. The project experience shows that the early involvement of employees and employee representatives is a key success factor in the development, introduction and design of working time models. working time models.

On the basis of the experience gained during the three-year project, two guidelines have been produced which are aimed at management as well as works and staff councils. The guidelines address the question of how to sensibly deal with conflicting goals between employees and employers in terms of working time flexibilization, present innovative models for working time design and work organization and show ways to resolve these conflicts in a spirit of partnership.